110 



ATHAPASCAN FAMILY 



[b. a. e. 



mon with their Algonquian neighbors to 

 the s. and e. Passing to the Pacific 

 grouiJ, practically no difference is found 

 between the culture which they presented 

 and that of tiie surrounding tribes of 

 other stocks, and it is evident that the 

 social organization and many of the rites 

 and ceremonies of the Navaho, and even 

 of the Apache, were due to Pueblo influ- 

 ences. Although in tliis respect the 

 Athapascan resembles the Salishan and 

 Shoshonean families, its pliability and 

 adaptability appear to have been much 

 greater, a fact noted by missionaries 

 among the northern Athapascans up to 

 the present day. 



If a true Athapascan cultui-e may be 

 said to have existed anywhere, it was 

 among the eastern trilies of the Northern 

 group, such as the Chipewyan, Kaw- 

 chodinne, Stuichamukh, Tatsanottine, 

 and Thlingchadinne, although differing 

 comparatively little from that of the 

 northernmost Algonquian tribes and the 

 neighboring Eskimo. Although recog- 

 nizing a certain individuality, these tribes 

 had little coherence, and were subdi- 

 vided into family groups or loose bands, 

 without clans or gentes, which recog- 

 nized a kind of patriarchal government 

 and descent. Perhaps the strongest au- 

 thority was that exercised by the leader 

 of a hunting party, the difference be- 

 tween success and failure on such a quest 

 being frequently the difference between 

 the existence or extinction of a band. 



Clothing was made of deerskins in the 

 hair, and the lodges of deer or caribou 

 skins, sometimes replaced by bark far- 

 ther s. Their food consisted of caribou, 

 deer, moose, musk-ox, and buffalo, to- 

 gether with smaller animals, such as the 

 beaver and hare, various kinds of birds, 

 and several varieties of fish found in the 

 numerous lakes and rivers. They killed 

 deer by driving them into an angle formed 

 by two converging rows of stakes, where 

 they were shot by hunters lying in wait. 

 The man was complete master in his own 

 lodge, his wife being entirely subservient 

 and assuming the most laborious duties. 

 Infanticide, especially of female children, 

 was common, but had its excuse in the 

 hard life these people were obliged to 

 undergo. In summer transportation was 

 effected in birch-bark canoes; in winter 

 the dogs carried most of the household 

 goods, except in so far as they were as- 

 sisted by the women, and on the barren 

 grounds they were provided with sledges. 

 The bodies of the dead were placed on 

 the ground, covered with bark and sur- 

 rounded by palings, except in the case of 

 noted men, whose bodies were placed in 

 boxes on the branches of trees. Shamans 

 existed, and their sayings were of much 

 influence with some of the people, but 



religion does not seem to have exerted as 

 strong an influence as in most other parts 

 of America. At the same time they had 

 absolute faith in the necessity and effi- 

 cacy of certain charms which they tied 

 to their fishing hooks and nets. Nearly 

 all have now been Christianized by Ro- 

 man Catholic missionaries and seem to 

 be devout converts. For an account of 

 the culture of the remaining Athapascan 

 tribes, see the special articles under the 

 tril)al names and articles dealing with 

 other tribes in the same localities. 



For the Northern division of Athapas- 

 cans see Hearne, Travels, 1795; the nu- 

 merous writings of Emile Petitot; jNIorice 

 (1) in Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, (2) 

 Trans. Canadian Inst., and elsewhere; 

 Richardson, Arct. Searching Exped., 

 1851; Bancroft, Native Races, i, 1886; 

 Russell, Explor. Far North, 1898; Hard- 

 esty and Jones in Smithson. Rep., 1866, 

 1872. For the Pacific division: Powers 

 inCont. N. A. Ethnol., iii, 1877; God- 

 dard in Pubs. Univ. Cal. , i, 1903. For the 

 Southern division: Matthews (1) in 5th 

 Rep. B. A. E., 1887, (2) Memoirs Am. 

 Mus. Nat. Hist., vi, Anthrop. v, 1902, 

 (3) Navaho Legends, 1897; Bourke (1) 

 in Jour. Am. Folk-lore, iii, 1890, (2) in 

 9th Rep. B. A. E., 1892. 



In the synonymy which follows the 

 names are not always to be accepted as 

 true equivalents. The Northern Atha- 

 pascan or Dene are usually meant. 



(p. E. G. J. R. s. ) 

 Adene.— Petitot, Diet. Den6-Dindji$, xix, 1876 

 (Kawchodinne name). Arabasca. — Petitot in 

 Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc, 641, 18S3. Arathapes- 

 coas.— Boudinot, Star in the West, 125, 1816. 

 Athabasca,— Bancroft, Nat. Races, i, 38, 1874. 

 Athabascan, -Richardson, Arct. Exped., ii, 1, 1851. 

 Athapaccas. — Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 

 III, 401, 1853. Athapaches,— Petitot, Autourdulac 

 des Esclaves, 98, 1891. Athapascan.— Turner in 

 Pac.R. R. Rep., ni, pt. 3, 84, 1856. Athapascas.— Gal- 

 latin in Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc, ll, 17, 1836. Athap- 

 asques. — Kingsley, Standard Nat. Hist., pt. 6, 147, 

 1883. Ayabasca.— Petitot in Jour. Roy. Geog. 

 Soc, 641, 1883. Chepewyan.— Richard.son, Arct. 

 Exped., II, 1, 1851. Chepeyans.— Pntchard, Phys. 

 Hist. Man., v, 375, 1847. Chippewyan.— Dall, Alas- 

 ka. 428, 1870. Dane.— Petitot, Diet. Den6-Dindji6, 

 xix, 1876. Danites.— Petitot, Autour du lac des 

 Esclaves, 99, 1S91. Dendjye.— Petitot, MS. B. A. 

 E., 1865 (used bv Kutchin). Dene.— Petitot, Au- 

 tour du lac (Ifs Esclaves, 363, 1891 (used by Chipe- 

 wyan). Dene-Dindjie. — Petitot, Diet. Langue 

 Dta6-Dindji(?, passim, 1876. Deneh-Dindschieh. — 

 Kingsley, Stand. Nat. Hist., pt. 6, 143, 18S3. Di- 

 nais, — Cox. Columbia R., 11,374,1831. Dindjie. — 

 Petitot, Diet. Denfe-Dindji^, xix, 1876 (used byTuk- 

 kuthkutchin). Dindjitoh.— Ibid, (used by Kutch- 

 akutchin). Dine. — Morice in Proc. Can. Inst., 3d 

 s., VII, 113, 1889 (used by Etagottine). Dinne.— 

 Keanein Stanford, Compend., 512, 1878. Dinnee. — 

 Cox, Columbia R., II, 374, 1831. Dinneh.— Frank- 

 lin, Nar., I, 241, 1824. Dinni. — Rafinesque, Am. 

 Nations, 1, 146, 1836. Dnaine.— Petitot, Diet. Den6- 

 Dindji6, xix, 1876 (used by Knaiakhotana). 

 'Dtinne. — Richardson, Arct. Exped., Ii, 1, 18.51. 

 Dune, — Morice in Proc. Can. Inst., 3d s., vii, 

 113, 1889 (u.sed by Thlingchadinne). Gunana. — 

 Swanton, inf'n (Tlingitname: 'strange people'): 

 Irkpeleit'.— Petitot, Dict.Denfe-Dindjie, xix, 1876 

 (Eskimo name: 'larvse of liee'). Itynai. — Dall 



